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All
Saints, Beachamwell

One of four former parish churches in and
around this fairly remote village, the scanty remains of
All Saints sit on a hilltop to the south-west of St Mary.
You can walk to them from the village green. Little
survives, mostly chunks of the lower part of the tower,
but enough remained in the early 18th century for the
antiquarian Blomefield to think it worth a visit. Thanks
to the splendid St Mary church guide, we know that he
found the chancel arch intact, and a 17th century tomb
chest to the Athow family of Wells Hall. After the
Reformation, when All Saints fell into disuse, it seems
to have been bought by the Athows, probably as a family
mausoleum. But the family died out, and so in the 17th
century All Saints began the long road to the almost
total degradation we see today.

For
many years, the ruin was a notable landmark, the
dramtic west end forming an arch against the sky.
In the early 20th century, the site was
excavated, and some of the fruits of that dig are
on display at St Mary - the font, a shield and an
inscription, the last two probably from the tomb
that Blomefield saw. The brass he saw has
vanished.

Adrian Mitchell sent me the
photograph on the right, which is copyright of
the Norfolk Air Library. It shows the ruin as it
was before July 1989. That month, the great west
arch finally collapsed. Now, all there is here to
be seen are the clumps of flint aggregate, slowly
crumbling. Catch them while you can.